Heat add Roger Mason Jr., camp roster at 19

MIAMI — Make that 19 players under contract for the Miami Heat entering Tuesday's start of training camp in the Bahamas, one shy of the camp maximum.

Journeyman guard Roger Mason Jr. posted Friday on his Twitter account, "I'm humbled and extremely blessed to have signed with the World Champion @MiamiHEAT!!! Can't wait to get to work! Let's go!!! #HeatNation." The Heat shortly thereafter confirmed the signing.

Mason Jr., 33, who recently was elected vice president of the NBA's player union, spent last season in New Orleans. He could give the Heat a strong union presence in the locker room should he make the regular-season roster, with Heat swingman James Jones secretary-treasurer of the National Basketball Players Association.

Mason, 6 feet 5, appeared in 69 games last season with New Orleans, starting 13. He averaged 5.3 points on .433 shooting from the field and .415 shooting on 3-pointers, in an average of 17.7 minutes per game. His 66 3-pointers were the third-highest total for New Orleans, behind the 213 of Ryan Anderson and the 83 of Greivis Vasquez.

With the addition of Mason, the Heat will bypass the opportunity to also sign veteran guard Von Wafer, who also had been auditioning in recent days at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Teams can carry up to 20 players during camp, but must reduce to between 13 and 15 by the start of the regular season, which opens Oct. 29 for the Heat against the Chicago Bulls at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Mason arrives on a non-guaranteed, make-good contract, as do forward Michael Beasley, center Justin Hamilton, forward Eric Griffin and guard Larry Drew II, with returning center Jarvis Varnado holding a contract that does not become partially guaranteed until opening night.